America First Consulting
Process Improvement Consulting for the Sacramento Area
916-745-3497
Rates
Consulting: All consulting rates are based on the customer tailored requirements. Our rates are very competitive and payment options are flexible. Click Contact us and we will work out a price that fits your needs. We offer hourly rates and flat rates, with reduced rates for frequent and premier customers.
We offer a free 1 hour initial assessment consultation for businesses and agencies located in the Sacramento area. During the initial assessment at your business location we can determine what services would be right for your need and answer any questions you may have.
Note: All rates and services subject to change without notice.
General Consulting Services
Assessment: Provides an initial and or full assessment of your business to give you an idea of where and how to focus for improvement. The initial assessment consultation takes a couple hours. A full business assessment takes between two and five days depending on the size and type of the business.
Strategic Planning: Provides a consultation with leadership to facilitate and determine a way forward to your new horizon. This planning focuses on setting Vision, Goals, Actions, Milestones and targets for improvement. This sets your business on the path for success. It also provides a way to manage and monitor your improvement effort and return on investment. Strategic planning takes two to five days of consultation often spread over a couple of weeks.
Mentoring: Provides on the job training of how to use the tools of Lean Six Sigma. Normally we work with your trained Green Belts or Yellow belts to help them through their first improvement effort.
Analysis: Provide graphical views of your data and what you should do about it. You provide the data and questions. We will analyze that data and provide you with graphs, charts, answers, interpretations and recommendations.
Facilitating: Provides the leading or facilitating of an improvement effort for you. Many businesses do not have people trained that can lead or facilitate an improvement event or project. We can lead and facilitate your improvement efforts until you get someone trained. We can help you implement the Lean Tools listed below and many other.
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Training
We provide Yellow belt, Green Belt, and Leadership, level training in Lean and Six Sigma tool sets and methodologies. We can also provide Just in Time training for Lean Tools noted below. Our goal is to train you so that you can be self sufficient to lead your continuous process improvement efforts.
Training can be provided at your location or offsite in the Sacramento area.
Yellow Belt training
Provides students the tools to enable them to be improvement team members. The two day class covers the basics of Lean and Six Sigma and ways to improve a process. This is an interactive class with lecture, discussions, simulations and other learning activities.
Minimum class size 15
Max class size 20
Click here for body of Knowledge YB BOK.pdf
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Green Belt training (Week 1)
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training (Week 1): Provides students the tools and techniques to lead or facilitate a Lean (Kaizen) or rapid improvement event. This 5 day class provides a deeper understanding of Lean tools and the application of Six Sigma methodology. This is an interactive class with lecture, discussions, simulations and other learning activities. Prerequisites: Yellow Belt Recommended. Basic math, business, and leadership skills recommended.
Minimum class size 8
Max class size 20
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Green Belt training (week2)
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training (week2): Provides students the tools and techniques to lead or facilitate a Six Sigma DMAIC improvement project. This 5 day class provides a deeper understanding of Lean and Six Sigma tools and methodologies. This is an interactive class with lecture, discussions, simulations and other learning activities.
Prerequisites: Yellow Belt and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training (Week 1) Recommended. Advanced math (algebra) to high school level, with business, leadership, and computer use skills recommended.
Additional student requirement: This class requires the use of Minitab software and a laptop computer. Minitab can be downloaded for evaluation off the internet for 30 days for free.
Minimum class size 8
Max class size 20
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Leadership training
Provides leadership with a basic understanding of Lean and Six Sigma and how to manage the process improvement effort. This one day class gives Leaders the tools to determine and select what needs to be improved and place the priority and resources where needed. It provides an overview of the tools and the process for improvement.
Prerequisites: Yellow Belt Recommended.
Minimum class size 8
Max class size 12
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Lean Tools
This is summary description of some of the Lean tools America First Consulting can help you implement. We also provide Just-in Time training on these subjects. This list is in alphabetical order and does not imply that implementation should occur in this order.
5S: A foundational tool used to create, maintain a organized, clean, safe and high performance work place.
Generic Pull Systems: A tool to control the flow of resources by only replacing what is consumed. This helps to reduce inventories and the associated management and cost.
Kanban systems: Kanban is a signaling system to trigger action. It uses cards or other devices to trigger the movement, production, or supply of a unit in a factory.
Mistake Proofing: Is a method of preventing or avoiding inadvertent errors by putting limits on how an operation can be performed in order to force the correct completion of the operation.
Process Balancing: A tool to help balance the work in a process so that no step is over loaded. This helps to provide process stability and efficiency.
Set up reduction: Is a process in which the time and effort for equipment changeover is reduced to an absolute minimum without adversely affecting quality.
Standard Work: Is a core concept of Lean Manufacturing. The tool is used to define, document and standardize the current one best way of doing a process safely, in a way that ensures quality for the customer. The goal is to have a standard method for doing a process so that no matter who does it, it is always done the same way.
Total Productive Maintenance (TPM): Is a new way of looking at equipment maintenance. In TPM the machine operator performs much of the routine maintenance tasks themselves. TPM is a proactive approach that essentially aims to prevent any kind of downtime before occurrence.
Value Stream Mapping & Analysis: Is a foundational improvement tool to identify visually how all work, information and material flow in a process. It is useful for indentifying waste in the process. It helps to transition from your current state to the desired future state. This is normally one of the first tools companies use. It will help point to the next tool to use.
Visual controls: Is a tool that visually helps to manage and perform work more efficiently. It includes a variety of displays and visual markers in the workplace that help to communicate expectations, status, feedback, abnormalities, location and other information quickly to everyone in the work place.